Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley is generally known as Lord Darnley (or Darnley), his courtesy title as the heir apparent to the Earldom of Lennox. Darnley had one brother who died in infancy and one surviving brother:

Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley was brought up in England. His mother had left Scotland in 1528 and had been brought up at the English court with her first cousin, the future Queen Mary I of England, who remained her lifelong friend. Darnley’s father lived in exile in England. He had been declared guilty of treason in Scotland for his part in the war of the Rough Wooing, siding with the English. Darnley had claims to both the Scottish and English thrones as he was descended from both James II of Scotland and Henry VII of England. Darnley’s family was Catholic and represented an alternative succession to the English throne. He had been well educated and was very conscious of his status and heritage.

Darnley in 1555; Credit – Wikipedia

14-year-old Darnley was sent to the French court to complete his education. This coincided with the short reign of François II, King of France, the first husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, Darnley’s first cousin. Upon the death of François II in 1560, Darnley was at once proposed as a suitable husband for the 18-year-old widowed Queen of Scots. Mary, Queen of Scots had lived in France since she was five-years-old. During Mary’s thirteen year absence, the Protestant Reformation had swept through Scotland, led by John Knox who is considered the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Therefore, Catholic Mary returned to a Scotland very different from the one she had left as a child.

Mary needed an heir, so a second marriage became necessary. After considering Carlos, Prince of Asturias, known as Don Carlos, eldest son and heir of King Philip II of Spain and Queen Elizabeth I’s candidate Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, Mary became infatuated with her first cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. Both Mary and Darnley were grandchildren of Margaret Tudor. The couple married at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh on July 29, 1565.

The marriage angered Queen Elizabeth I who felt that Darnley, as her cousin and an English subject, needed her permission to marry. James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray was also angered by his sister’s marriage to a prominent Catholic and joined other Protestant lords in a rebellion. Mary soon became disillusioned by Darnley’s uncouth behavior and his insistence upon receiving the Crown Matrimonial which would have made him co-sovereign of Scotland. Mary refused and their relationship became strained.

At the end of 1565, Mary became pregnant. Darnley, who was jealous of Mary’s friendship with her private secretary David Rizzio, rumored to be the father of her child. Darnley formed a conspiracy to do away with Rizzio. On March 9, 1566, Rizzio was at supper with Mary and her ladies at Holyrood Palace. The conspirators, led by Darnley, burst into the room, dragged Rizzio away and killed him in an adjoining room. Mary was roughly pushed and shoved and although the conspirators hoped she would miscarry, she did not. All the conspirators were banished except for Darnley who was forgiven. On June 19, 1566, at Edinburgh Castle, Mary gave birth to a son, christened Charles James after his godfather King Charles IX of France, later succeeding his mother as King James VI of Scotland. In 1603, Mary and Darnley’s son succeeded the childless Queen Elizabeth I of England as King James I of England.

James VI, King of Scots, circa 1574; Credit – Wikipedia

Mary’s marriage was all but over and she began to be drawn to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell. Bothwell entered into a conspiracy with Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll and George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly to rid Mary of her husband. On February 10, 1567, Kirk o’ Field, the house where Darnley was staying, was blown up. Darnley and his servant were found dead near the house in an orchard outside the city walls. Since Darnley was dressed only in his nightshirt and had no injuries, it was assumed that he was strangled after the explosion. Suspicions that Mary colluded with the conspirators in Darnley’s death or that she took no action to prevent his death were key factors that led to her loss of the Scottish crown that same year. Darnley was buried at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Share this:

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge with their first child Prince George; Photo Credit – By AshleyMott – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27403270

Kensington Palace has made the following announcement:

“Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting their third child.

The Queen and members of both families are delighted with the news.

As with her two previous pregnancies, The Duchess is suffering from Hyperemesis Gravidarum. Her Royal Highness will no longer carry out her planned engagement at the Homsey Road Child’s Centre in London today. The Duchess is being cared for at Kensington Palace.”

Prince William and Catherine Middleton were married on April 29, 2011, at Westminster Abbey. The couple has two children: Prince George of Cambridge (born July 22, 2013) and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge (born May 2, 2015). The new baby would be fifth in the line of succession to the British throne after its grandfather The Prince of Wales, its father, and its two siblings.

2 August 2017The Duke of EdinburghBuckingham PalaceCaptain General, Royal Marines, will attend the closing ceremony of the 1664 Global Challenge, at Buckingham Palace.

On May 4, 2017, Buckingham Palace announced:

“His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh has decided that he will no longer carry out public engagements from the autumn of this year. In taking this decision, The Duke has the full support of The Queen. Prince Philip will attend previously scheduled engagements between now and August, both individually and accompanying The Queen. Thereafter, The Duke will not be accepting new invitations for visits and engagements, although he may still choose to attend certain public events from time to time.”

The Duke has completed 22,219 solo engagements since 1952, the year his wife succeeded to the British throne. That number does not include the engagements he attended with Queen Elizabeth II.

Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson were married at Westminster Abbey in London, England on July 23, 1986.

Prince Andrew’s Family

HRH Prince Andrew Albert Christian Edward was born February 19, 1960 at Buckingham Palace, London. Andrew was the third child of Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, born HRH Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark. Elizabeth was the elder daughter and the first of two children of King George VI and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, who was the youngest daughter and the ninth of ten children of Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. Philip’s father was HRH Prince Andrew of Greece, the son of King George I of Greece (formerly Prince William of Denmark) and Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia. His mother was Her Serene Highness Princess Alice of Battenberg. Alice was the daughter of Prince Louis of Battenberg and Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine. During World War I, when King George V ordered his family to relinquish their German styles and titles, Prince Louis became the Louis Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Milford Haven. Princess Victoria’s mother was Princess Alice, a daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Therefore, Andrew’s parents are both great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

Andrew has two older siblings Prince Charles, born on November 14, 1948 and Princess Anne, born on August 15, 1950. When his mother became Queen on February 6, 1952, her duties as Queen postponed additions to the family. Prince Andrew was born eight years later and the youngest child in the family, Prince Edward, was born on March 10, 1964.

On his wedding day, July 23, 1986, Andrew was created Duke of York, the traditional title of the second son of the monarch, along with the subsidiary titles, Earl of Inverness, and Baron Killyleagh. These titles were also held by his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and his maternal great-grandfather, King George V, both of whom were second sons of monarchs.

Queen Elizabeth’s children have been unlucky in marriage. Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson separated on March 19, 1992 and divorced on May 30, 1996. The couple remains on friendly terms and Sarah, no longer HRH The Duchess of York, uses the style of a divorced duchess, Sarah, Duchess of York. Charles and Diana, The Prince and Princess of Wales, separated in December 1992 and divorced in August 1996. Exactly a year later, Diana, Princess of Wales tragically died in a car accident in Paris. In 1974, Princess Anne married Mark Phillips, a Lieutenant in the 1st Queen’s Dragoon Guards, but the couple separated in 1989 and divorced in 1992. Princess Anne married again in 1992 to Timothy Laurence, then a Commander in the Royal Navy. Prince Edward has been the most stable of the Queen’s children as far as marriage is concerned. In 1999, he married Sophie Rhys-Jones, then a public relations manager with her own firm and that marriage still continues as does Princess Anne’s marriage to Timothy Laurence. In 2005, Prince Charles married Camilla Parker-Bowles with whom he had a romantic relationship before and during his marriage.

Sarah Ferguson’s Family

Sarah and her sister Jane

Sarah Margaret Ferguson was born on October 15, 1959 in the Marylebone section of London. Her father was Major Ronald Ferguson, the son of Andrew Ferguson and Marian Montagu-Douglas-Scott, a first cousin of Lady Alice Montagu-Douglas-Scott, who married Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, third son of King George V. Sarah’s father had a career in the Army and was polo manager for the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales. Sarah’s mother was Susan Mary Wright, the daughter of Lieutenant FitzHerbert Wright and The Honorable Doreen Wingfield. Mervyn Wingfield, 8th Viscount Powerscourt was Sarah’s maternal great grandfather. Sarah had an elder sister Jane Louisa who was born on August 26, 1957. The children’s parents divorced in 1974 and both remarried.

Sarah does boast a royal descent although it is from the wrong side of the sheets. Like the Duchess of Cornwall, the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and the late Princess Alice of Gloucester, Sarah is descended from King Charles II via his illegitimate children. Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, son of Charles II and his mistress Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth and James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, son of Charles II and his mistress Lucy Walter are her ancestors.

The Engagement

Sarah and Andrew had crossed paths throughout their lives, but they first really noticed each other a couple of years prior to the engagement at a weekend party at Floors Castle, the Scottish home of the Duke and Duchess of Roxburghe. Fascinated by Sarah’s red hair, Andrew spent the weekend photographing her. However, both Sarah and Andrew were involved with others at the time. Despite this, a friendship began to develop.

Sarah visited Windsor Castle, attended Ascot Week, dined at Buckingham Palace, and attended the ballet at Covent Garden with Andrew. Their friendship was slowly becoming something more. Their budding romance was helped along by the matchmaking skills of the Princess of Wales. Diana and Andrew, having been childhood neighbors at Sandringham, were longtime friends. At one time, there had been speculation that Diana and Andrew would eventually marry. Diana was still close to her brother-in-law and Sarah was a good friend. Diana thought it would be a marvelous idea for her two dear friends to marry.

On February 19, 1986, Andrew’s birthday, at the Scottish home of the Duke and Duchess of Roxburghe, where their romance first started, Andrew proposed to Sarah. Sarah accepted but added, “If you wake up tomorrow morning, you can tell me it’s all a huge joke.”

The Engagement Ring

Sarah’s engagement ring was made by the crown jewelers, Garrard, from sketches Andrew himself had made. It was completed in just under a week. Featured in the ring was a Burma ruby surrounded by 10 drop diamonds. The mounting was 18 karat white and yellow gold.

The Wedding Attire

Sarah’s wedding dress was deemed a huge success by fashion designers and royal watchers. Designed by Linka Cierach, a couturier who had a modest shop in Fulham, West London, the dress was an ornate, Edwardian gown of ivory satin, heavily embroidered with anchors and waves, symbols alluding to Andrew’s naval career; and bees and thistles, symbols of Sarah’s own coat of arms. Completing the intricate embroidery was the letter “S” on the bodice. The train was 17 1/2 feet in length, with a large bead worked letter “A” near the end. Sarah’s veil was of pure silk and the edging embroidered with hearts and sequins. Her shoes were covered in matching beaded duchess satin. The floral headdress consisted of lily of the valley, cream roses, gardenias and cream lily petals. Sewn in the underskirt of Sarah’s dress were several blue bows containing good-luck messages from her family. Estimates by experts placed the cost of the ensemble at between $7,500 and $12,000.

Prince Andrew looked handsome and poised in the dress uniform of a Royal Navy lieutenant, complete with a sword at his side, which appeared to give him some trouble when he slipped Sarah’s gold ring onto her finger.

The four bridesmaids wore frothy dresses of peach taffeta silk, trimmed in ecru and peach cotton lace and beautiful floral headdresses. The page boys wore midshipmen and sailor’s uniforms of the Royal Navy from 1782, complete with sailor hats.

The Ceremony

In the early morning hours of July 23, 1986, Sarah prepared to walk down the aisle of Westminster Abbey to wed her Prince and become Her Royal Highness The Duchess of York. Tens of thousands lined the mile-long route of the wedding procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey. 800 million people were in front of their televisions, including millions of bleary-eyed, early rising Americans. As Sarah and her father Major Ronald Ferguson left Clarence House in the Glass Coach, the “Queen’s Weather” prevailed and the sun broke through the clouds.

With only minor mistakes during the ceremony, Prince Andrew, Duke of York married Sarah Margaret Ferguson. The only sign of nerves on Sarah’s part came when she repeated Andrew’s full name, Andrew Albert Christian Edward. Andrew had minor difficulty placing the ring on Sarah’s finger. His sword would not cooperate and kept getting in the way. However, despite these minor bobbles, they were pronounced man and wife at 11:50 by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Sarah had chosen the traditional service in which she pledged to “obey”.

Sarah’s wedding band was a simple one made of the same Welsh gold as Queen Elizabeth’s, Princess Margaret’s, Princess Anne’s and Princess Diana’s. Sarah caused quite a ripple of surprise when she presented Andrew with a gold pinkie band. This was not in the script of the wedding but was a royal family tradition.

The Wedding Breakfast

After the ceremony, Andrew and Sarah made their procession down the Mall to Buckingham Palace in an open-topped, 1802 State Landau carriage, amidst cheers from the throngs of well wishers along the way.

Members of the both families sipped champagne, had photographs taken, and waited for the bride and groom to arrive. Finally, the newly married Duke and Duchess of York emerged for the traditional balcony scene. Andrew grinned and waved to the thousands of people, while Sarah teased the crowd by cupping her hand to her ear when they shouted out “We want a kiss!” The request was granted when the Duke of York kissed his beautiful bride.

Andrew, Sarah, and the wedding party returned inside to feast upon a buffet of lobster, roast lamb cutlets, strawberries and cream, fine wine, and Bollinger champagne.

After Sarah distributed gifts of bow brooches to each of the bridesmaids and cufflinks for the pages, the cake was cut. Baked by three chefs at HMS Raleigh, a Navy supply school, the six-tiered, 240-pound confection was cut by Sarah and Andrew with the Duke’s ceremonial sword.

The Honeymoon

As family and friends, nannies, chambermaids, and cooks awaited the final appearance and eventual departure of the bride and groom, the children tossed handfuls of confetti meant for Sarah and Andrew at each other. When the newlyweds emerged, they were showered with rose petals from silver bowls held by footmen.

The couple made their way to Heathrow Airport in an open carriage, with a paper maiche satellite dish and sign attached reading “Phone Home” put there as a practical joke by Prince Edward, Andrew’s younger brother. The Princess of Wales and Viscount Linley, Princess Margaret’s son, placed a king-sized teddy bear inside the coach. Inside the courtyard, the guests ran after the carriage, shouting well wishes, including Queen Elizabeth who chased after Prince William.

Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York, boarded a royal jet, emblazoned with “Just Married” on the rear door, for the Portuguese Azores Islands. The couple then spent their five-day honeymoon aboard the royal yacht Britannia in the Atlantic.

Born Prince Carl of Denmark (Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel) at the Charlottenlund Palace on August 3, 1872, he was the second son of the four sons and the second of the eight children of King Frederik VIII of Denmark and Princess Louise of Sweden. At the time of his birth, his paternal grandfather King Christian IX of Denmark sat upon the Danish throne and his maternal grandfather King Carl XV of Sweden and Norway sat upon the Swedish throne. Carl was related to many European royals via his paternal uncles and aunts and had many royal first cousins including King George V of the United Kingdom, King Constantine I of Greece, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and his future wife Princess Maud of Wales. Carl’s elder brother was King Christian X of Denmark who reigned from 1912 – 1947.

Prince Carl grew up with his seven siblings at his parents’ residence Frederik VIII’s Palace at Amalienborg in Copenhagen and in the family’s summer residence Charlottenlund Palace, north of Copenhagen. As a younger son, it was expected that he would have a career in the military and he trained as a naval officer at the Royal Danish Naval Academy in Copenhagen. He served as a lieutenant and participated in several sailing expeditions with the Royal Danish Navy from 1893 until 1905. In 1905, Carl became King of Norway, taking the name Haakon VII.

Princess Maud of Wales (Maud Charlotte Mary Victoria) was born on November 26, 1869 at Marlborough House in London, England. She was the third and youngest daughter and the fifth of the six children of the Prince and Princess of Wales (the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Princess Alexandra of Denmark, daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark). Princess Maud had five siblings including the future King George V of the United Kingdom. Maud’s mother was a paternal aunt of her future husband. At the time of her birth, Maud’s grandmother Queen Victoria sat upon the British throne.

Growing up, Maud was the most exuberant of the three sisters and was known as Harry in the family. She developed a one-sided romance with Prince Francis of Teck, the brother of her future sister-in-law Mary of Teck. Maud and Francis exchanged a couple of letters, but it was soon apparent that Francis was not interested in Maud.

Because Maud’s mother was a Danish Princess, Maud visited her Danish relatives often and was familiar with her first cousin Prince Carl of Denmark, who was three years younger than her. They had played together with their other cousins at family reunions held in Denmark at Fredensborg Castle and Bernstorff Castle. There had been family gossip that Maud and Carl might marry, so it was not all that surprising when Carl proposed to Maud during a family reunion at Fredensborg Castle and Maud accepted. On October 29, 1895, the couple’s engagement was announced. Maud’s mother had some concerns about the age difference, but Maud realized Carl would make a good husband for her. She loved the sea and sailing, so a husband who was in the navy would be quite appropriate.

Maud’s grandmother Queen Victoria was delighted. Marie Mallet, who served as Maid of Honour and Extra Woman of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria from 1887-1900 wrote in her diary that Maud’s engagement “…caused much excitement at Balmoral…and has been the cause of much telegraphing…The Queen is delighted and healths were drunk at dinner.” The Prince of Wales (future King Edward VII) gave his daughter Appleton House on the Sandringham Estate for Maud to use on her visits to England.

Carl had responsibilities to the Danish Royal Navy. He was due to go on a five-month assignment to the West Indies, so the wedding was scheduled for the next summer, on July 22, 1896.

Earlier in 1896, Prince Henry of Battenberg, the husband of Maud’s paternal aunt Princess Beatrice, had died. Henry had persuaded Queen Victoria to allow him to go to West Africa to fight in the Anglo-Ashanti Wars. He arrived in Africa on Christmas Day of 1895. By January 10, 1896, Henry was sick with malaria and it was decided to send him back to England, but Henry died aboard the ship HMS Blonde off the coast of Sierra Leone on January 20, 1896. There were conflicts in the family over whether the marriage should take place during the mourning period. Finally, it was decided that the wedding should go on as planned and that Princess Beatrice and her children would not attend.

Wedding Guests

Family of the Groom

Princess Frederick of Schaumburg-Lippe, born Princess Louise of Denmark, sister of the groom and first cousin of the bride, 1895; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Crown Prince Frederik (father of the groom, uncle of the bride, the future King Frederik VIII of Denmark)

Crown Princess Louise of Denmark (mother of the groom, born Princess Louise of Sweden)

Prince Christian of Denmark (brother of the groom, first cousin of the bride, the future King Christian X of Denmark)

Princess Frederick of Schaumburg-Lippe (sister of the groom, first cousin of the bride, born Princess Louise of Denmark)

Prince Frederick of Schaumburg-Lippe (brother-in-law of the groom)

Prince Harald of Denmark (brother of the groom, first cousin of the bride)

Princess Ingeborg of Denmark (sister of the groom, first cousin of the bride)

Princess Thyra of Denmark (sister of the groom, first cousin of the bride)

Prince Gustav of Denmark (brother of the groom, first cousin of the bride)

Princess Dagmar of Denmark (sister of the groom, first cousin of the bride)

Princess Maud wanted to dress in a simple fashion. Her dress, designed by Miss Rosalie Whyte of the Royal Female School of Art, had a long train and was made of pure white English satin that had been woven in Spitalfields, a section of London known for its weaving. Maud wore her mother’s veil and instead of a tiara, she wore flowers in her hair. Her jewelry was simple, a choker necklace and several bracelets, and she carried a bouquet of orange blossoms, German myrtle, and a mixture of white jessamine.

The bridesmaids wore white dresses trimmed with red geraniums while the Carl wore his Royal Danish Navy uniform.

The wedding was held in the Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace in London, England at 12:30 PM on July 22, 1896, a sunny and pleasant day. It was a family affair, rather than a state occasion. Queen Victoria was already at Buckingham Palace, so she made no public appearance during the wedding procession. The streets of London were decorated with British and Danish flags and flowers. Two military units, the Life Guards and the Coldstream Guards, lined the short distance from Marlborough House, the home of Maud’s parents, and Buckingham Palace. Crowds gathered near the Palace in anticipation of the procession.

Early arrivals to the Palace included minor members of the British royal family and foreign royals. First in the carriage procession was the groom with his parents Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Louise and his brothers Prince Christian and Prince Harald. The Princess of Wales and the children of Queen Victoria, accompanied by their children, came next. When the royals, with the exception of the bride’s procession, had gathered at the palace, Queen Victoria led the family into the Private Chapel, accompanied by two of her grandsons, Prince Arthur of Connaught and Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein. Then Prince Carl and his brothers entered the chapel, heading up to the altar to wait for the bride. Maud accompanied by her father The Prince of Wales and her eight bridesmaids were the last to leave Marlborough House.

The wedding ceremony was conducted by Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury assisted by Frederick Temple, Bishop of London and Randall Thomas Davidson, Bishop of Winchester. The musicians and choir of the Chapel Royal of St. James’s Palace provided the music during the ceremony. The newlyweds left the chapel the famous wedding march by Felix Mendelssohn from his suite of incidental music to Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The wedding march had become popular after it was used at the wedding of Maud’s aunt Victoria, Princess Royal and the future Friedrich, German Emperor. After signing the wedding registry with 50 other royals, chatting animatedly for several minutes, and embracing the bride and groom, Queen Victoria left and did not attend the wedding luncheon.

Two luncheons were held at Buckingham Palace: one in the State Dining Room for the royal guests and one in the State Ballroom for everyone else. After that, the newlyweds and The Prince and Princess of Wales greeted guests in a receiving line in the Picture Gallery. Later in the afternoon, The Prince and Princess of Wales hosted a garden party at Marlborough House.

A publication of the day described the wedding cake: “…the separate tiers were encircled with white satin ribbon bordered with pearls, trimmed with bridal buds and tied in true lovers’ knots: a triumphant god of love surmounting the whole structure bore aloft a delicate nautilus shell, from which fell festoons of silver bullion and fragile seaweed.”

At 2:45 PM, the bridal party departed Buckingham Palace and went the long way around via Piccadilly and St. James Street. The streets were beautifully decorated with bunting, flags, and flowers. People lined the streets and the windows of clubs and other buildings along the route were filled with cheering people.

The Honeymoon

Later, Maud and Carl left Marlborough House for St. Pancras Station to board a special train for the railway station in Wolferton, Norfolk, the nearest station to Sandringham House. The newlyweds were to spend a short honeymoon at Appleton House on the Sandringham Estate, the house that Maud’s father had given her as a wedding gift. However, the short honeymoon turned a five-month honeymoon. Some family members had been concerned that Maud would have difficulty leaving England, and that was proving to be true.

Three weeks after the wedding, the Danish Royal Family all met at Bernstorff Castle, ready to welcome the newlyweds to Denmark. Maud’s mother and sister, The Princess of Wales and Princess Victoria, arrived at Bernstorff Castle at the end of August. Maud wrote to her grandmother Queen Victoria that they were going to Denmark in the beginning of September. Family members began arriving in Denmark, expecting to see Carl and Maud. King George I of Greece (Maud and Carl’s uncle) arrived at Berstorff Castle in early September. Within a few days, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (Maud and Carl’s first cousin) and his wife Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna (Maud’s first cousin) arrived and there was still no sign of Maud and Carl in Denmark. Maud and Carl were still in England on December 14 when the family gathered at Frogmore for the annual remembrance ceremony for Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s late husband.

Carl’s leave from the navy was nearly over and it was imperative they leave for Denmark, which they did on December 21, 1896. Maud never did get used to the harsh Danish winters and visited her England as often as she could.

In 1905, upon the dissolution of the Union between Sweden and Norway, the Norwegian government began searching for candidates to become King of Norway. Because of his descent from prior Norwegian monarchs, as well as his wife’s British connections, Carl was the overwhelming favorite. Before accepting, Carl insisted that the voices of the Norwegian people be heard in regards to retaining a monarchy. Following a referendum with a 79% majority in favor, Prince Carl was formally offered and then accepted the throne. He sailed for Norway, arriving on November 25, 1905, and took the oath as King two days later. He took the name Haakon VII and Maud became Queen of Norway. The couple’s only child Prince Alexander of Denmark, born in 1903, took on the name Olav, became Crown Prince of Norway, and succeeded his father on the throne in 1957. Because of their mutual descent from King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, the Norwegian Royal Family is the most closely related royal family to the British Royal Family.

Query.nytimes.com. (2017). PRINCESS MAUD A BRIDE; MARRIED IN STATE TO PRINCE CHARLES OF DENMARK. The Archbishop of Canterbury Performs the Ceremony at the Buckingham Palace Chapel — The Queen and All the Royal Family Except Princess Beatrice Present — Profuse, Decorations — Vast Crowds Line the Streets.. [online] Available at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9801EFDC123BEE33A25750C2A9619C94679ED7CF [Accessed 24 Jun. 2017].

Louis’ rank continued to rise, as did his influence in the Royal Navy. In 1902, he was made Director of Naval Intelligence, and two years later elevated to Rear Admiral. In 1908, he was made Vice-Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet. In 1911, he was appointed Second Sea Lord and was made Admiral in July 1912. Five months later, Prince Louis was made First Sea Lord.

However, in 1914, with war imminent, there was an intense anti-German sentiment in Britain. Louis, despite his exemplary 46-year career in the Royal Navy, was still seen by many as just a German prince. There were false accusations in the media of spying for the Germans. In fact, due to his German relations, he was able to learn much about the German military and share that information with the British. Despite protests from King George V, Louis was asked to resign his position as First Sea Lord in October 1914.

By 1917, anti-German sentiment had reached a fevered pitch in the United Kingdom. The British Royal Family’s dynastic name had gone from one German name to another, the House of Hanover to the decidedly more Germanic-sounding, House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Many British people felt that this implied a pro-German bias. Even Prime Minister David Lloyd George remarked as he was on his way to see King George V, “I wonder what my little German friend has got to say.” Letters were pouring into the Prime Minister’s office wondering how the British were going to win the war if the king was German.

In May 1917, King George V discussed the matter with his Private Secretary Arthur Bigge, 1st Baron Stamfordham. Lord Stamfordham had to agree that Germanic names and titles were in several branches of the royal family and that no one was really certain what the royal family’s surname was. The College of Arms, which is delegated to act on behalf of the Crown in all matters of heraldry, the granting of new coats of arms, genealogical research and the recording of pedigrees, was consulted as to what was King George V’s surname. The answer was an uncertain one. Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was a geographic name. The surname was not Stuart and not Guelph which had been the old family name of the Hanoverians. That name was lost by common law when Queen Victoria married. Looking into Prince Albert‘s family, there was Wipper and Wettin, but no one was absolutely certain of the answer.

“A Good Riddance” cartoon by Leonard Raven-Hill from Punch, Vol. 152, 27 June 1917, commenting on the King’s order to relinquish all German titles held by members of his family

King George V decided that to show the British people that the royal family was indeed British, a change of name was necessary. The king’s uncle Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught suggested the name Tudor-Stuart, but that name was discarded because of unpleasant implications. Other names suggested were Plantagenet, York, Lancaster and even just plain England. Meetings began to take on the nature of a parlor game. Lord Stamfordham ultimately came up with an acceptable idea. King Edward III had been known as Edward of Windsor after his birthplace Windsor Castle. Windsor, which comes from the old English windles-ore or “winch by the riverside,” had been a settlement hundreds of years before William the Conqueror had a castle built there in 1070. King George V agreed that Windsor would be the family name. On July 17, 1917, the Privy Council gave final approval and on the next day, the following proclamation from King George V appeared in newspapers:

GEORGE R.I.

WHEREAS We, having taken into consideration the Name and Title of Our Royal House and Family, have determined that henceforth Our House and Family shall be styled and known as the House and Family of Windsor:

And whereas We have further determined for Ourselves and for and on behalf of Our descendants and all other the descendants of Our Grandmother Queen Victoria of blessed and glorious memory to relinquish and discontinue the use of all German Titles and Dignities:

And whereas We have declared these Our determinations in Our Privy Council:

Now, therefore, We, out of Our Royal Will and Authority, do hereby declare and announce that as from the date of this Our Royal Proclamation Our House and Family shall be styled and known as the House and Family of Windsor, and that all the descendants in the male line of Our said Grandmother Queen Victoria who are subjects of these Realms, other than female descendants who may marry or may have married, shall bear the said Name of Windsor:

And do hereby further declare and announce that We for Ourselves and for and on behalf of Our descendants and all other the descendants of Our said Grandmother Queen Victoria who are subjects of these Realms, relinquish and enjoin the discontinuance of the use of the Degrees, Styles, Dignities, Titles and Honours of Dukes and Duchesses of Saxony and Princes and Princesses of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and all other German Degrees, Styles, Dignities. Titles, Honours and Appellations to Us or to them heretofore belonging or appertaining.

Given at Our Court at Buckingham Palace, this Seventeenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand nine hundred and seventeen, and in the Eighth year of Our Reign.
GOD save the KING.
(London Gazette, issue 30186, July 17, 1917, p. 1.)

When Wilhelm II, German Emperor, a grandson of Queen Victoria and a first cousin of King George V, received the news, he smiled, got up from his chair, and said in his perfect English that he was off to the theater to see Shakespeare’s play The Merry Wives of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. A number of King George V’s relatives who had Germanic titles and were British subjects exchanged their old names and titles for new ones. While the transition in names and titles was occurring, Prince Louis of Battenberg spent some time at the home of his eldest son George. After his surname was anglicized from Battenberg to Mountbatten and Louis became the Marquess of Milford Haven instead of Prince of Battenberg, he wrote in his son’s guestbook, “Arrived Prince Hyde, Departed Lord Jekyll.”

The children of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and subsequently male-line descendants inherited the titles Prince/Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke/Duchess of Saxony through Prince Albert. Those particular titles held by British subjects were discontinued by the proclamation. With the exception of the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha/Saxony titles above, family members who lost German names/titles and their new names/titles appear on the list below.

Prince Alexander of Teck (husband of Princess Alice of Albany, brother of Queen Mary, wife of King George V) – Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone

Prince Rupert of Teck (great-grandson of Queen Victoria, son of Princess Alice of Albany and Prince Alexander of Teck) – Rupert Cambridge, Viscount Trematon (one of his father’s titles used as a courtesy title)

Princess May of Teck (great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, daughter of Princess Alice of Albany and Prince Alexander of Teck) – Lady May Cambridge

Prince George of Battenberg (great-grandson of Queen Victoria, son of Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine and Prince Louis of Battenberg) – George Mountbatten, Earl of Medina (one of his father’s titles used as a courtesy title, later 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven)

Prince Louis of Battenberg (great-grandson of Queen Victoria, son of Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine and Prince Louis of Battenberg) – Lord Louis Mountbatten (later 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma)

Joan Beaufort’s father John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset was the eldest of the four children of John of Gaunt, son of King Edward III, and his mistress Katherine Swynford. Their children were given the surname “Beaufort” after a former French possession of John of Gaunt. John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford married on January 13, 1396 at Lincoln Cathedral in England. After the marriage of John and Katherine, their four children were legitimized by both King Richard II of England and Pope Boniface IX. After John of Gaunt’s eldest son from his first marriage to Blanche of Lancaster deposed his first cousin King Richard II in 1399, the new King Henry IV inserted a phrase excepta regali dignitate (“except royal status”) in the documents that had legitimized his Beaufort half-siblings which barred them from the throne.

Joan met her husband James I, King of Scots during his long captivity in England. After the probable murder of his elder son by an uncle, Robert III, King of Scots sent his only surviving son James to France for his safety. However, the ship 12-year-old James was sailing on was captured on March 22, 1406 by English pirates who delivered James to King Henry IV of England. Robert III died a month later and James, who was nominally King of Scots, spent the first eighteen years of his reign in captivity. As Joan was related to the English royal family, she was often at court. Joan is said to be the inspiration for The Kingis Quair (“The King’s Book”), a poem supposedly written by James after he looked out a window and saw Joan in the garden.

James I, King of Scots; Credit – Wikipedia

Although there may have been an attraction between Joan and James, their marriage was political as it was a condition for James’ release from captivity. Joan was well connected. She was a great granddaughter of King Edward III, a great-niece of King Richard II, a niece of King Henry IV, and a first cousin of King Henry V. Her paternal uncle Henry Beaufort was a Cardinal, Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor of England. The English considered a marriage to a Beaufort gave the Scots an alliance with the English instead of the French. Joan’s dowry of £6,000 was subtracted from James’ ransom of £40,000. The couple was married February 12, 1424, at St. Mary Overie Church, now known as Southwark Cathedral in Southwark, London, England. James was released from his long captivity on March 28, 1424 and the couple traveled to Scotland. On May 21, 1424, James and Joan were crowned King and Queen of Scots at Scone by Henry Wardlaw, Bishop of St. Andrews.

Upon returning to Scotland after an absence of 18 years, James found that Scotland was in a horrible condition, with much poverty and lawlessness. He vigorously set about transforming his kingdom and made many enemies. In addition, there were still doubts about the validity of the first marriage of James’ grandfather, Robert II and this raised questions about James’ own right to the throne of Scotland. James found himself facing challenges from descendants of his grandfather’s second marriage.

On February 20, 1437, plotters supporting the claim to the throne of Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl, a son of Robert II’s second marriage, broke into the Carthusian Charterhouse of Perth where James and Joan were staying. The conspirators reached the couple’s bedroom where Joan tried to protect James but was wounded. James then tried to escape via an underground passage but was cornered and hacked to death by Sir Robert Graham. There was no strong support for the conspiracy and James’ assassins were soon captured and brutally executed.

Joan herself had been a target of her husband’s killers, and although wounded, she escaped, took custody of her 6-year old son King James II and declared a regency. The idea of having Scotland ruled by an Englishwoman was not popular and three months later, King James II’s first cousin, Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas, was proclaimed regent, a position he held until his death two years later. On September 21, 1439, Joan married Sir James Stewart, known as the Black Knight of Lorne. The Stewarts of Lorne were trusted supporters of Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas, the young king’s regent, and their power greatly increased while the Douglas family controlled Scotland. However, this all changed with the death of Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas.

After Douglas’ death, the power of the regency was shared uneasily by William Crichton, 1st Lord Crichton, Lord Chancellor of Scotland and Sir Alexander Livingston of Callendar, who was the custodian of the young King James II as the warden of Stirling Castle. As a result, Joan’s second husband Sir James Stewart and his Douglas allies planned to abduct the young James II who was being held by Livingston at Stirling Castle. However, Livingston placed Joan and her new husband under house arrest at Stirling Castle. They were only released by making a formal agreement to relinquish custody of King James II in favor of Livingston, by giving up Joan’s dowry for her son’s maintenance, and agreeing that Livingston’s actions were only in ensure the king’s safety. From then on, Joan had no participation in matters of state.

In November 1444, Joan was besieged at Dunbar Castle by William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas from the Black Douglas faction, who may have had the blessing of King James II. Joan was under the protection of James Douglas, 3rd Earl of Angus from the Red Douglas faction and Sir Adam Hepburn of Hailes, the custodian of Dunbar Castle. It is likely that supplies from the nearby Red Douglas stronghold of Tantallon Castle were shipped in via a hidden passage to maintain the garrison at Dunbar Castle. However, after a ten-month siege, Joan died on July 15, 1445 at around 41 years of age and Dunbar Castle was turned over to the Black Douglas faction.

Joan was buried beside her first husband James I, King of Scots in the Carthusian Charterhouse of Perth, which he had founded. On May 11, 1559, following a sermon by John Knox, a leader of the Scottish Reformation and the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, the Carthusian Charterhouse in Perth was attacked by a mob of Protestant reformers. Everything was destroyed including the royal tombs and remains.

A monument marking the site of the Charterhouse; Photo Credit – By kim traynor, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29398897

Share this:

Prince George, Duke of York (the future King George V of the United Kingdom) and Princess Victoria Mary of Teck were married on July 6, 1893, at the Chapel Royal at St. James’ Palace in London, England.

Prince George’s Family

HRH Prince George Frederick Ernest Albert was born on June 3, 1865, at Marlborough House, London. His parents were Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), known as Bertie, and Alexandra of Denmark, known as Alix. Bertie’s sister Vicky, the Crown Princess of Prussia, had helped in the matchmaking. Bertie and Alix were married on March 10, 1863, at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. Queen Victoria sorrowfully watched the ceremony from the Royal Closet, still blaming Prince Albert’s death in 1861 on a trip the ailing Albert had made to Oxford to sort out Bertie’s early sexual adventures.

Bertie and Alix had six children: Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence, known as Eddy (1864) who died in 1892 unmarried but engaged to Mary of Teck, George V (1865), Louise (1867) later Princess Royal who married the first Duke of Fife, Victoria (1868) who never married and served as her mother’s companion, Maud (1869) who married Prince Carl of Denmark (later King Haakon of Norway), and John who was born and died in 1871.

During their marriage, Bertie had many mistresses which Alix forced herself to accept without protest. The couple remained on friendly and affectionate terms throughout their marriage. While Bertie was on his deathbed, Alix summoned his last mistress Alice Keppel (the great-grandmother of Camilla, HRH The Duchess of Cornwall) so she might say goodbye. After Bertie died, Alix remarked, “Now at least I know where he is.”

George was related to many other royals. Through his father, he was the first cousin to Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, Queen Marie of Rumania, Queen Sophie of Greece, Queen Ena of Spain, Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden and was a brother to Queen Maud of Norway. Through his mother, he was the first cousin to King Christian X of Denmark, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, King Constantine I of Greece and King Haakon VII of Norway.

Sources:“Brewer’s British Royalty” by David Williamson
Royal Genealogies –Menu, http://ftp.cac.psu.edu/~saw/royal/royalgen.html
Directory of Royal Genealogical Data, http://www.dcs.hull.ac.uk/public/genealogy/royal/

Princess Mary’s Family

Her Serene Highness Princess Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes of Teck was born at Kensington Palace, London on May 26, 1867. Mary’s mother was HRH Princess Mary Adelaide, the youngest child of HRH Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (the seventh son and tenth child of King George III and Queen Charlotte) and HRH Princess Augusta of Hesse-Cassel. The new princess was known as Mary or May.

Princess Mary Adelaide weighed approximately 250 pounds and was affectionately known as “Fat Mary.” Her first cousin Queen Victoria wrote of her, “Her size is fearful. It is really a misfortune.” Princess Mary Adelaide, however, was high-spirited and full of life and was adored by the Victorian public who called her “The People’s Princess.”

Mary’s father was His Serene Highness Prince Francis of Teck, the product of a morganatic marriage. Prince Francis’ father, Duke Alexander of Württemberg, was once heir to the throne of Württemberg. However, Duke Alexander contracted a morganatic marriage (marriage to a person of a lower rank) to a Hungarian countess, Claudine Rhedey. Alexander lost his rights to the throne and his children lost the right to use the Württemberg name. Francis’ cousin King Karl of Württemberg eventually elevated him to the more important Germanic title of Duke of Teck.

“Fat” Mary Adelaide (age 33) and genealogically-tainted Francis (age 29) married on June 12, 1866, at Kew Palace, London. Mary Adelaide and Francis had a happy marriage but had chronic financial problems due to Mary Adelaide’s extravagance and generosity. Queen Victoria gave them an apartment at Kensington Palace where their four children were born: Mary (1867), Adolphus (1868) who became the second Duke of Teck and married Lady Margaret Grosvenor, daughter of the first Duke of Westminster, Francis (1870) who died unmarried in 1910, and Alexander (1874) who married Princess Alice of Albany, the daughter of Prince Leopold, the youngest son of Queen Victoria. During World War I in 1917, when British royals were anglicizing names and titles, Adolphus became the Marquess of Cambridge and Alexander became the Earl of Athlone. Both Adolphus and Alexander adopted the surname Cambridge.

Prince Eddy: Princess Mary’s First Fiancé

Prince Albert Victor Christian Edward (1864-1892) was the oldest son and eldest child of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) and Alexandra of Denmark. He was known in the family as Eddy. George was his younger brother. Prince Eddy was second in line to the throne held by his grandmother Queen Victoria.

Eddy was backward and lazy. He was an apathetic student and received very little education. He was primarily interested in pursuing pleasure which often led him into trouble. His lack of concentrating on anything serious caused great concern in his family. There have been suggestions that Eddy was homosexual and frequented a notorious male brothel in Cleveland Street, London. A theory purported that Eddy was Jack the Ripper, but there is no real evidence to support this theory.

Eddy’s family decided that finding a suitable wife might help correct his attitude and behavior. Eddy proposed to his cousin Alix of Hesse and by Rhine (later Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia) but was rejected by her. Eddy then fell head over heels for French Catholic Princess Hélène of Orléans, who returned his love. However, Hélène’s father, the Comte de Paris, refused to allow his daughter to convert to Anglicanism and forbade the marriage.

It was at this time that, unbeknownst to her, Mary was considered the most suitable bride for Eddy. Eddy offered no resistance to this suggestion. Mary had been brought up to revere the monarchy and to be proud that she was a member of the British Royal Family. The fact that Mary’s father was a product of a morganatic marriage could have presented difficulties for her in the marriage market. Despite the shortcomings Eddy might have, Mary felt it was her duty to marry him.

Eddy proposed to Mary during a ball on December 3, 1891. The engagement was announced three days later and the wedding set for February 27, 1892. The engagement was met with disdain by some German relatives who felt that dignified, well-educated Mary was unequal in rank due to her grandfather’s morganatic marriage. However, Queen Victoria approved wholeheartedly of the marriage.

In the midst of the wedding preparations, Eddy developed a high fever on January 7, 1892 at Sandringham. His sister Victoria and other household members already had been ill with influenza, which Eddy also developed. Two days later, his lungs became inflamed and pneumonia was diagnosed. In his delirium, Eddy frequently shouted out the name “Hélène.”

In the early morning hours of January 14, 1892, a chaplain was summoned to Eddy’s bedroom at Sandringham. There, surrounded by his parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales, his brother George, his sisters Louise, Victoria and Maud, his fiancée Mary, and her mother the Duchess of Teck, Eddy died at 9:35 a.m. Eddy’s funeral was held at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor and he is buried in the Albert Memorial Chapel, Windsor. Mary’s wedding bouquet of orange blossoms lay on his coffin.

The Engagement

After the death of Prince Eddy, Mary and George spent much time together. As time passed and their common grief eased, there was hope that a marriage might take place between them. George proposed to Mary beside a pond in the garden of his sister Louise’s home, East Sheen Lodge, on April 29, 1893. The engagement was announced on May 3, 1893 with the blessing of Queen Victoria.

The Trousseau

Mary already had a trousseau made in preparation for her wedding to Eddy. However, that trousseau had fallen out of fashion and would have been considered bad luck to use, so a new trousseau was necessary. To the rescue of the Tecks, always in financial crisis, came Mary’s aunt, the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Augusta, the sister of Mary’s mother). Aunt Augusta and her husband gave Mary £1000 for the purchase of a new trousseau. The new trousseau, made by English dressmakers Linton and Curtis, Scott Adie, and Redfern, included 40 outdoor suits, 15 ball dresses, five tea gowns, bonnets, shoes, gloves, traveling capes, traveling wraps and driving capes.

Sources:“Queen Mary by James Pope-Hennessey

The Wedding Dress

Mary visited Queen Victoria before the ceremony, who described Mary’s dress in her diary: “Her dress was very simple of white satin with a silver design of roses, shamrocks, thistles and orange-flowers interwoven. On her head, she has a small wreath of orange-flowers, myrtle and white heather surmounted by a diamond necklace I gave her, which also can be worn as a diadem, and her mother’s wedding veil.”

Actually, Mary’s dress was far from simple. The satin brocade had been specially woven into national symbols and true love knots in silver. The bodice was cut to Mary’s figure and the front of the skirt was left open to reveal a plain satin slip. The overskirt was decorated with lace and sprays of orange blossoms. The long silk veil interwoven with May blossoms, originally made for Mary’s wedding to Eddy, was replaced with the Duchess of Teck’s wedding veil. This veil, which was little more than a short lace scarf, was secured with a diamond tiara.

The Wedding

The wedding was set for July 6, 1893, at the Chapel Royal, St. James’ Palace. St, George’s Chapel, Windsor, had been the choice for Mary’s planned marriage to Eddy, but it was considered inappropriate because it had been the site of Eddy’s funeral.

There was much excitement about the upcoming wedding. Women’s magazines produced special editions detailing Mary’s trousseau. Crowds visited London’s Imperial Institute where royal wedding gifts were displayed for the first time.

The summer of 1893 had been hot and July 6, the wedding day, was no different. Crowds gathered in the morning along the bridal procession route on Constitution Hill, Piccadilly, and St. James Street.

At 11:30 a.m., the first of the carriage processions left Buckingham Palace. Royalty from Britain and abroad rode in twelve open state landaus driven by cream-colored horses. The bridegroom and his father left the Palace at 11:45 a.m. followed by Queen Victoria in the Glass Coach. Accompanying the Queen was her cousin, the beaming Princess Mary Adelaide, the mother of the bride. The bride’s procession came last. Mary was accompanied by her brother Adolphus.

As Mary walked down the aisle of the Chapel Royal towards George, she leaned stiffly on her father’s arm and smiled at those guests she recognized. Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury performed the ceremony and was assisted by Frederick Temple, Bishop of London, and Randall Davidson, Bishop of Rochester, and five other prelates. While exchanging vows, George gave his answers distinctly while Mary spoke quietly. After the wedding service, the royals returned in state to Buckingham Palace.

The royals feasted at round tables covered with food in a room separate from the other guests. The guests enjoyed themselves in the Ballroom where large buffet tables were set up. After the meal, there was a royal wedding “first.” Queen Victoria led George and Mary out onto the balcony at Buckingham Palace and presented them to the cheering crowds.

The Honeymoon

York Cottage at Sandringham

After the wedding festivities, George changed into a frock coat and top hat and Mary into a dress of cream white poplin with gold braid and a small gold bonnet trimmed with white ostrich feathers and rosebuds. As the couple left Buckingham Palace, the wedding guests showered them with rice. Crowds cheered them as they drove down The Mall, through the City of London to Liverpool Street Station where they boarded a train to Sandringham. The couple spent their honeymoon at York Cottage on the Sandringham estate, a five-minute walk from the room where Eddy had died less than eighteen months earlier. Queen Victoria wrote to her daughter Vicky, “The young people go to Sandringham to the Cottage after the wedding which I regret and think rather unlucky and sad.”

Share this:

Prince William and Catherine Middleton were married on April 29, 2011, at Westminster Abbey in London, England.

The Family of Prince William

William with his parents

HRH Prince William Arthur Philip Louis was born on June 21, 1982, at St. Mary’s Hospital in the Paddington section of London. William was the first child of Charles, The Prince of Wales and his wife of eleven months, the former Lady Diana Spencer. Charles was the eldest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip of Greece. Upon his mother’s accession to the throne in 1952, Charles became her heir. He was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on July 26, 1958. At birth, William became the second in line of succession and is expected to follow his grandmother and father as monarch.

Diana was the third of four surviving children of Edward John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer and The Honourable Frances Ruth Roche, younger daughter of the 4th Baron Fermoy. The Spencer family is an old English noble family. Althorp in Northamptonshire, England has been the ancestral home of the Spencer family since the early 16th century. The Spencer family has served the British monarchy for centuries. Most recently, Diana’s grandmother, Lady Fermoy, was a close friend and a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Diana’s father served as equerry to both King George VI and to Queen Elizabeth II. Among the Spencer family ancestors are the famous soldier and statesman John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and his wife Sarah Jennings who was a close friend of Queen Anne, and King Charles II through four of his illegitimate children.

William’s brother Prince Harry was born on September 15, 1984. Unfortunately, the marriage of The Prince and Princess of Wales was not a happy one. The couple separated in December 1992 and divorced in August 1996. Exactly a year later, Diana, Princess of Wales tragically died in a car accident in Paris. Accompanied by their father, their grandfather Prince Philip, and their uncle the 9th Earl Spencer, William and his brother Harry walked behind their mother’s coffin during her funeral procession. In 2005, Prince Charles married Camilla Parker-Bowles with whom he had a romantic relationship before and during his marriage. It is understood that William and Harry have a good relationship with their stepmother.

The Family of Catherine Middleton

A smiling young Kate in 1988

Catherine Elizabeth “Kate” Middleton was born on January 9, 1982, at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, Berkshire. Kate is the oldest of the three children of Michael Francis Middleton and Carole Elizabeth Goldsmith. Michael Middleton worked as a flight dispatcher for British Airways. Carole Goldsmith also worked for British Airways, but as a flight attendant. In addition to Kate, the Middletons also have another daughter Philippa (Pippa) born in 1983 and a son James born in 1987.

Kate was raised in the village of Bucklebury in Berkshire. Her ancestors are basically English with a few Scots and French Huguenots in the family background. Michael Middleton’s family comes from Leeds in West Yorkshire and Carole Goldsmith’s family is from County Durham where they were laborers and miners.

After the birth of James, Carole had the idea to create a business to help parents with their children’s birthday parties called Party Pieces. The business grew from a cottage industry into a business that made the family millionaires. Recent research by some journalists has revealed that apparently, Michael’s side of the family are descendants of a Victorian mill owner who left the equivalent of £33million in his will and that some of the Middleton family’s wealth may come from this source.

The Engagement

In 2001, Prince William and Kate Middleton first met each other while they were both students at University of St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland. During their first year, they both lived at St. Salvator’s Hall, a residence hall at the university. For their final two years, they shared housing in the town. They started dating in 2003 and remained together for eight years except for a brief separation in 2007. The couple became engaged in October 2010 while on a private vacation in Kenya.

The official engagement announcement came from Clarence House on November 16, 2010: “The Prince of Wales is delighted to announce the engagement of Prince William to Miss Catherine Middleton.”

The Engagement Ring

William presented Kate with his mother’s engagement ring, a platinum ring set with a large oval sapphire and fourteen diamonds. The ring, reported to have cost in the region of $55,000 in 1981, was made by the royal jewelers Garrard & Company in Regent Street, London. William’s mother herself selected the largest and most expensive ring from a tray of engagement rings. As in 1981, copies of the engagement ring went on sale soon after the engagement was announced.

Partial Guest List

Members of the British Royal Family

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall

Prince Henry of Wales

The Duke of York

Princess Beatrice of York

Princess Eugenie of York

The Earl and Countess of Wessex

The Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence

Mr. and Mrs. Peter Phillips

Miss Zara Phillips with Mr. Mike Tindall

Viscount Linley and Viscountess Linley and The Hon. Charles Armstrong-Jones

The Most Reverend Gregorious, Archbishop of the Greek Archdiocese of Thysteira and Great Britain

The Archbishop of Canterbury and Mrs. Rowan Williams

Rabbi Anthony Bayfield

Mr. Anil Bhanot

The Archbishop of Armagh, Cardinal Archbishop Sean Brady

Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, The Most Reverend David Chillingworth

The Right Reverend John Christie, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland

Mr. Malcolm Deboo President, Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe

The Rt. Reverend Doctor Norman Hamilton

The Archbishop of Armagh, The Most Reverend Alan Edwin Harper

Monsignor Philip Kerr, The Convener, Action of Churches Together in Scotland

Commissioner Elizabeth Matear, Salvation Army

The Archbishop of Wales, The Most Reverend Doctor Barry Morgan

The Reverend Gareth Morgan Jones, President of the Free Church Council of Wales

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-Connor

The Archbishop of Westminster, The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols

Cardinal Keith Patrick O’Brien, Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh

Rabbi Alan Plancey

Imam Mohammad Raza

The Chief Rabbi (Lord Sacks)

The Venerable Bogoda Seelawimala, Acting Head Monk, The London Buddhist Vihara

Maulana Syed Raza Shabbarm, Muhammadi Trust

Mr. Natubhai Shah, President, the Jain Academy

Dr. Indarjit Singh, Director, Network Sikh Organisations (UK)

Canon Christopher Tuckwell

The Reverend Martin Turner

The Archbishop of York and Mrs. John Sentamu

Senior Members of the Defense Services

Major General and Mrs. William Cubitt, Major General Commanding Household Division and GOC London District

Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen and Lady Dalton, Chief of the Air Staff

General Sir Nicholas and Lady Houghton

Air Vice-Marshal the Hon. David and Mrs. Murray, Defence Services Secretary

General Sir David and Lady Richards, Chief of the Defence Staff

Admiral Sir Mark and Lady Stanhope, First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff

General Sir Peter and Lady Wall, Chief of the General Staff

Also invited are ambassadors representing countries with which the United Kingdom has normal diplomatic relations and Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenants for the United Kingdom. These individuals will not be accompanied by their spouses or partners.

What follows is a list of other guests who have a relationship with the bride and/or groom and guests whom television viewers may recognize. These guests have been invited along with their spouses or civil relationship partners.

Mr. David Allan, Chairman of Mountain Rescue, England, and Wales. Prince William has been Patron of the organization since 2007.

Major Tom Archer-Burton, was Prince William and Prince Harry’s Commanding Officer in the Household Cavalry.

Mrs. Alison Moore-Gwyn, Chief Executive of Fields in Trust. Prince William is Patron of The Queen Elizabeth II Fields, an initiative to protect and create hundreds of playing fields throughout the UK in honor of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The project is run by Fields in Trust.

Mr. Seyi Obakin, Chief Executive of Centrepoint. Centrepoint became Prince William’s first Patronage in 2005. His mother, Diana, Princess of Wales was also Patron of the Charity.

Mr. Peter Cross, Chief Executive of the charity SkillForce, of which Prince William has been Patron since 2009.

Miss Amanda Berry, Chief Executive of BAFTA. Prince William has been President of BAFTA since 2010.

Mrs. Ann Chalmers, Chief Executive of the Child Bereavement Charity. Prince William has been Patron of the Charity since 2009.

Mrs. Julia Samuel, Chair of the Child Bereavement Charity and also a family friend of Prince William. Prince William has been Patron of the Charity since 2009.

Mrs. Tessa Green, former Chairman of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. Prince William became President of The Royal Marsden in May.

Mr. Simon Johnson, worked closely with Prince William as Chief Operating Officer of the FA’s 2018 World Cup bid.

Sir Trevor Brooking, the Football Association’s Director of Football Development and is responsible for youth-coaching standards in England. Prince William has been President of the FA since 2006.

Sir Clive Woodward, a former Coach of the England Rugby Team and the British and Irish Lions. Prince William was invited by Sir Clive to join the British and Irish Lions rugby team on their tour to New Zealand in 2005.

Mr. Gareth Thomas, Welsh Rugby player. Gareth Thomas several times in his role as Vice Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union.

Mr. Ian Thorpe, Australian Olympic swimmer. Prince William met the Olympic swimmer, Ian Thorpe, on a visit to Australia in 2010 and has since supported Mr. Thorpe’s charitable organization Fountain for Youth, which focuses on improving health and education for children.

Mr. Barty Pleydell-Bouverie led the Cycle of Life charity bike ride across Africa in 2008, which raised money for the Tusk Trust.

Rear Admiral Ian Corder, Rear Admiral of Submarines. Prince William was appointed Commodore-in-Chief of Submarines by The Queen in 2006.

Brigadier Ed Smyth-Osbourne, Brigadier Smyth-Osbourne was Prince William and Prince Harry’s Commanding Officer in the Household Regiment and acted as their military mentor.

Major William Bartle-Jones, Prince William’s Squadron Leader in the Household Cavalry Regiment based at Windsor.

Sergeant Keith Best, a colleague of Prince William’s at RAF Valley, in Anglesey, North Wales.

Squadron Leader Paul Bolton, a colleague of Prince William’s at RAF Valley in Anglesey, North Wales.

Wing Commander Kevin Marsh met Prince William through his service in the RAF. He will be one of the Path Liners outside Westminster Abbey on the wedding day.

Lance-Corporal Martyn Compton, Lance-Corporal in the Household Cavalry. He was injured in an ambush in Afghanistan in 2006, which put him in a coma for three months and left him with 75 per cent burns.

Miss Holly Dyer, sister to 2nd Lieutenant Joanna Dyer, who was killed by a bomb in Iraq in 2007. Joanna was a close friend of Prince William’s at Sandhurst.

Mrs. Susie Roberts, widow of Major Alexis Roberts, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2007. Major Alexis Roberts was Prince William’s Platoon Commander at Sandhurst.

Mr. and Mrs. Bryn Parry, founded the charity Help for Heroes to assist wounded service men and women. Both Prince William and Prince Harry are supporters of the charity.

Mr. Edward Gould, Master of Marlborough College when Miss Middleton was a student.

Dr. Andrew Gailey, Vice-Provost of Eaton College and was Prince William’s Housemaster.

The Hon. Edward Dawson-Damer, ex-Irish Guards officer, who was Equerry to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in the 1980’s.

Mr. Sam Stevenson, New Zealander Sam Stevenson was Prince William’s New Zealand equerry during his visit to the country in July 2005.

Sir John Major, former Prime Minister, was appointed a Guardian to Prince William and Prince Harry with responsibility for legal and administrative matters after the death of their mother.

Mr. Rowan Atkinson, actor and close friend of The Prince of Wales.

Mr. Tom Bradby, journalist and news reporter. He has known both Prince William and Miss Middleton for some time and conducted their first joint interview together.

Mr. Ben Fogle, travel writer, television presenter and adventurer and has met Prince William on a number of occasions.

Sir Elton John, singer-songwriter, composer, and pianist. He performed at the funeral of the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

Mr. and Mrs. David Beckham, footballer (soccer player). Beckham and Prince William worked together as Ambassadors of England’s 2018 World Cup Bid.

Mr. Guy Ritchie, film-maker and friend of Prince William and Miss Middleton.

Miss Joss Stone, English Soul singer and songwriter, performed at the Concert for Diana at Wembley in 2007 and at City Salute in 2008.

Mr. Mario Testino, photographer, took Prince William and Miss Middleton’s official engagement photographs.

Miss Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, friend of The Prince of Wales and his family.

Mr. Sam Waley-Cohen, amateur jockey and friend of Prince William and Miss Middleton.

Mr. Galen Weston, friend of The Prince of Wales and his family.

The Wedding Attendants

Bridesmaids:

The Honorable Margarita Armstrong-Jones, age 8, daughter of Viscount and Viscountess Linley

Lady Louise Windsor, age 7, daughter of the Earl and Countess of Wessex

The Wedding Attire

The Ceremony

Announcement from Clarence House on November 23, 2010:

“The marriage of Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton will take place at Westminster Abbey on Friday 29th April 2011. The Royal Family will pay for the wedding, following the precedents set by the marriages of The Prince and Princess of Wales in 1981 and Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip in 1947. “

The Lunchtime Wedding Reception

Prior to the reception, there was a private photo session for the wedding party and family with photographer Hugo Burnand and then the bride and groom greeted the 650 guests.

Next, the bride, groom appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace where they pleased the crowd with the now obligatory kiss.

Finally, Queen Elizabeth II hosted the lunchtime wedding reception for 650 guests at Buckingham Palace. Claire Jones, the official harpist of The Prince of Wales, entertained at the reception. The guests were served an assortment of canapés prepared by a team of 21 chefs, led by Royal Chef Mark Flanagan. The chefs prepared approximately 10,000 canapés. Along with the canapés, guests were served Pol Roger NV Brut Réserve Champagne and soft and alcoholic drinks. The selection of canapés included:

Two cakes were served, a wedding cake and a chocolate biscuit cake specially requested by Prince William and made by McVitie’s Cake Company using a Royal Family recipe. The wedding cake was designed by Fiona Cairns and was made from 17 individual fruit cakes and had eight tiers. A garland design around the middle of the wedding cake matched the architectural garlands around the top of the Picture Gallery in Buckingham Palace where the cake was displayed. The wedding cake was decorated with 900 individually iced flowers and leaves of 17 different varieties. The flowers and the leaves on the wedding cake symbolized the following:

White Rose – National symbol of England

Daffodil – National symbol of Wales, new beginnings

Shamrock – National symbol of Ireland

Thistle – National symbol of Scotland

Acorns, Oak Leaf – Strength, endurance

Myrtle – Love

Ivy – Wedded Love, Marriage

Lily-of-the-Valley – Sweetness, Humility

Rose (Bridal) – Happiness, Love.

Sweet William – Grant me one smile

Honeysuckle – The Bond of Love

Apple Blossom – Preference, Good Fortune

White Heather – Protection, Wishes will come true

Jasmine (White) – Amiability

Daisy – Innocence, Beauty, Simplicity

Orange Blossom – Marriage, Eternal Love, Fruitfulness

Lavender – ardent attachment, devotion, success, and luck

The Evening Wedding Reception

300 of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s closest friends and family attended the evening wedding reception hosted by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace. The Queen and Prince Philip were not in attendance, having left the Palace for the younger crowd. The new Duchess of Cambridge had changed into a floor-length ivory satin gazar gown with a diamante-embroidered waistband and a cream-coloured angora bolero jacket which was also designed by her wedding dress designer Sarah Burton. William looked handsome in a black tie and dinner jacket. As the guests arrived, a military band played. Swiss chef Anton Mosimann, who owns a restaurant in the Knightsbridge section of London, was responsible for the dinner. The menu included:

Spring vegetables grilled and blanched (and not cooked in butter or cream)

Trio of chocolate puddings

Seasonal fruits

Ice cream with a brandy snap

When dinner was done, Prince Harry gave the best man’s speech and Michael Middleton gave the father of the bride speech. After the speeches, William and Kate had their first dance to Elton John’s “Your Song” sung by Ellie Goulding. The music continued until 2 AM and most guests had departed by 3 AM after a long and memorable day.

The Honeymoon

North Island in the Seychelles

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spent their wedding night at Buckingham Palace. The next day, they left the Palace via helicopter for an undisclosed location in the United Kingdom. Prince William returned to work the next week as a Search and Rescue pilot on the island of Anglesey in Wales. On Tuesday, May 10, 2011, palace officials said that the couple had left for a honeymoon at an undisclosed location and declined to comment on the length of the honeymoon. At a later date, it was revealed that the couple spent a 10-day honeymoon in the island nation of the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. The location of their honeymoon was the private North Island in one of the 11 secluded, exclusive villas there. To learn more about North Island, see its official website.